Has anyony else had problems with the letters not filling in when you retry a cryptogram? Every time I've had to go back and retry one I have had to fill in all of the letters one at a time, as opposed to the regular cryptograms that automatically fill in the letters once you put one in. Of course this adds to the solving time, which is already long in the first place...since it was that hard to solve the first time around. Is it just me? Very frustrating.:mad:

TONY BOY

04-02-2008, 03:25 AM

I've had the same problem.... also I've had a new game pop up... giving me two to solve.... the other day, my cat walked across the keyboard... and suddenly I had 9 unsolved games.... that was a real time killer! :)

opallady

04-05-2008, 12:03 AM

I knew there was a good reason to keep the cat off of the keyboard! I've been having better luck with the "go-back" arrow on the browser than the "try again" in the game.

kat

04-05-2008, 03:06 AM

:p Well, I can't say I've had either of my cats step on the keyboard yet...but they sure do try and play along with me somtimes.(especially the one in my avatar photo. He is very brilliant for a kitty) So the back arrow is the better way to retry? I'll give that a shot next time. My solving percentage isn't that great this month so far, so I have to watch it. I'm short on patience with the really tough ones. Thanks for the hint! :D

TONY BOY

04-05-2008, 05:23 AM

How do you keep a cat off the keyboard? I am a dog person, and I inherited this cat from my 87 year old uncle who died last summer. The cat seems to be drawn to my keboard like a magnet. I tell him no, and put my hands over the keyboard. Then when I am not watching, he walks on it. He also stands right in front of the screen when I am trying to solve a puzzle. I guess he wants attention, or wants to participate. Unfortunately, he has shown no ability to solve cryptos. :confused:

opallady

04-05-2008, 07:09 PM

I never said it was easy to keep a cat off of the keyboard. Try toys, feeding, handing it off to someone else, or encouraging it to sit in your lap instead of on the keyboard.

kat

04-05-2008, 08:54 PM

My cat steps very gingerly around my keyboard. I don't know why. He does stand in front of it sometimes trying to get my attention. I gently shove him out of the way and solve the puzzle, then I pick him up and give him some attention.:) He usually sits in my chair behind me while I'm playing. Like I said, an exceptionally smart cat. Unfortunately, he shows no ability for cryptograms either.

TONY BOY

04-06-2008, 03:29 AM

I have posted a picture of my cat on my profile, so you can get an inkling of what I have to put up with.... :mad:

maradnu

04-06-2008, 04:00 PM

I haven't had a problem with a cat walking across the keyboard. (I'm allergic to cats, and my dog can't reach the keyboard.)

I have had the issue with letters not auto-filling a few times, and with two puzzles opening up. Sometimes they will not auto-fill at all, but mostly only partially auto-filling.

Luckily it has not happened too often - though it would be nice if the 'management' could find and fix the problem.

A few times, not often, I've hit the retry button and had it open a new puzzle.

Both problems mostly screw up times more than anything else.

Good luck with the cats.

kat

04-06-2008, 08:41 PM

To TonyBoy...
After reviewing the photo you posted may I suggest that it is probably a bad idea to keep a piece of string lying across your keyboard, as this could possibly be the root of you problem. :D He's a pretty cat though. Nice markings.

To Maradnu...
Yes, I've had exactly the same problems with partial or entire lack of auto-fill. Definitley messes with your times. I don't think I have enough patience to be a 100 percent-er. I think I enjoy it more when I'm less worried about the 100% thing. In the future if I can't manage 100% then so be it. So, honestly, I really don't know if I'll even be hitting that retry button anymore. :rolleyes:

TONY BOY

04-06-2008, 09:02 PM

Thanks for the suggestion about the string on the keyboard.... I hadn't thought of that... I removed it.... but he is still fascinated with the computer... (He also plays the piano.... he is using the string method to learn to play.... he was a stray who came from the convenience store in Hartford, Kansas.... he came up to my uncle's house in 2002... so I guess he is a country cat.) :rolleyes:

kat

04-06-2008, 09:19 PM

The string method can be used to learn piano? I'll have to try that. Neither of my cats are musically inclined as far as I can tell, although the one NOT in my avatar picture is quite vocal. Especially when there is a lack of food on his plate. He is 18.70 lbs. There is a slide show on my myspace if you want to see.

Totally off the subject, I'm wondering if you can help me. I've been stumped on a particular cryptogram TWICE now and if I get it again I think my head may explode. I wrote it down.

This feels like cheating to me, but curiousity might actually kill the Kat (sorry) if I get this frutrating quote again. The average solve time was up in the 400 sec. range so I guess it didn't come too easily to too many other solvers either. Help!

TONY BOY

04-06-2008, 10:50 PM

I'm not having any luck solving the crypto you put up there.... Milton used the contraction th' for the quit a bit.... digirl28 has most of these recorded.... maybe she has this one... :confused:

jdege

04-06-2008, 11:08 PM

How many words are there, that have the same letter pattern as "DGETGQSNUD"?

Ten-letter words, where the first and last letters are the same and the second and the fifth letters are the same?

I only know of three: "disfigured", "henceforth", and "secretions".

Pattern-word lists are your friend. It's pretty easy to make your own pattern word lists, with your desktop computer (which has the advantage of giving you files that can be computer-searched.) But if you're not up to that, Aegean Park Press sells a number of books containing pattern word lists. And there's a good set of pattern word tables in Appendix D of FM 34-40-2, which can be downloaded from the internet:

Thanks...it was most certainly "henceforth". This is what I came up with:

John Milton

And, re-assembling our afflicted powers, consult how we may henceforth most offend.

Unless the "p" in "powers" is wrong then I'm pretty sure this is the answer.

I appreciate all of your help. If I run into this quote again I'll still kind of feel like I cheated. But, since I now know the answer, it is likely that I wil never, ever see this particular quote again. :rolleyes:

TONY BOY

04-07-2008, 12:05 AM

This is from Paradise Lost... sometimes a partial fragment can be googled, but in this case, only the last part comes up... the first part doesn't seem to register.

jdege

04-07-2008, 01:06 AM

Unless the "p" in "powers" is wrong then I'm pretty sure this is the answer.
What else could it be? If you've set everything else, all you have left is "j k p q v x z", only one of them gives you a word.

kat

04-07-2008, 02:46 AM

Yes, I'm sure that's a correct solution. But as I said earlier, I probably won't get that particular cryptogram again now that I know the answer. Thanks again for the help.:cool: